So why wasn’t she lacing into that smug masculine form of devil’s bait?
“Hallie, what’s wrong? Hallie?” Cade leaned across the table and waved a hand in front of her face. She gave a jerk, then her gaze focused on him.
“That’s better. I asked if I upset you, Hallie.”
The lie hovered on the tip of her tongue. She looked into twinkling blue eyes. “Yes,” she blurted. “Yes, you did upset me. You had no right to take advantage of me. A gentleman would have waited for a—”
“Whoa! Hang it up, Hallie. If I had waited for a sign from you I’d be bald and rocking time away on the front porch.”
Very deliberately, Cade set his fork down, planted his elbows on the edge of the table and formed a bridge with his entwined fingers to rest his chin. His narrow-eyed gaze took in her bewildered expression.
“Ah, Hallie,” he began in a gentle admonishing tone.
“I told you the truth. I saw you standing there in the last rays of sunlight and you were too much temptation to resist. When you didn’t pull away or try to stop me I thought you welcomed my attention. Was I wrong?”
Cade held a bone-deep certainty that Hallie had never lied to him. He felt like the run-down edge of his boot heel watching her struggle to answer the question he’d already discovered in her journal. Beneath his chin his fingers tightened in a death grip. He was anxious for her to say it, to have everything out in the open between them.
“I won’t repeat their mistakes,” she whispered, then lifted eyes bruised with pain to his.
“Hallie? I don’t understand.”
She shoved her chair back, her napkin falling unheeded to the floor as she fled the room.
Cade repeated her words to himself. He tried to make sense of them. Without thought he found himself reaching behind him on the sideboard for the ever present fancy tin of chocolates. He was munching on his third piece before he realized what he was doing.
“Hells bells! That woman is enough to drive a preacher to drink and a drunk sober.”
Sitting there, brooding and struggling to understand whose mistakes Hallie wasn’t going to repeat was a waste of time. Cade stood up and began clearing the table. He knew where he would find Hallie when he was done.
Finding her was the easy part. Getting her to talk to him might prove more challenge then he had realized.
Chapter 3
The night was cool. A faint breeze murmured through the spring leaves. In the distance Cade heard the gurgling rush of the creek, and all around him were the pungent smells of animals and earth.
In front of him, he saw Hallie with her arms folded over the corral fence. She appeared unaware of him as the breeze tossed a wisp of hair across her cheek and she brushed it away. Moonlight touched her features, both delicate and strong.
Cade crushed the shawl he held, alarmed by the strength of determination that rose within him to pursue her. He limped closer and draped the light wool over her hunched shoulders.
“Why did you run away from me, Hallie?”
“I’ve been wondering the very same thing,” she replied softly.
“And have you found the answer?”
“What I did was childish. I’m a grown woman—”
“Won’t get any argument from me, Hallie.”
She wanted to deny the words, deny the strange little shiver that raced up her spine, deny that sharp awareness of Cade in the darkness. What he said was nothing dangerous, yet she knew that is where the danger lay.
He trailed one finger across the open weave of the shawl from her right shoulder to the left, then back again. Cade couldn’t seem to control his need to touch her.
“I love this place. I never want to leave here. It probably would be more practical to find a place in Denver but I like being alone.” She felt the light touch of his hand, brushing back and forth across her shoulders and in an effort to distract him and herself, she rushed on. “My grandmother set up a trust for me, so I would never have to worry about losing this land and—”.
“Was she one of the people whose mistakes you weren’t going to repeat?”
Denial sprang to her lips. Hallie swallowed it.
Cade smiled as his lips touched the back of her hair. Although she had not moved he sensed that she was very much aware of him. He inhaled deeply and passion surged through him, but he quickly tempered it, for Hallie was ready to bolt and he didn’t want her to leave him again.
“You’re prying, Cade McAllister.”
“You always use my full name when you want to keep distance, Hallie. But how else can I find out all there is to know about you if I don’t ask?”
“Why ever would you want to? You’ll be leaving soon.” The gentle ply of his hands shifting to rub up and down her upper arms caused a hitch in her breathing. “I think you had better stop.”
“Stop what? Talking to you? Touching you? Hasn’t anyone ever courted you, Hallie?” Courted? Where the devil did that come from? “Can’t you understand that I like knowing things about you that no one else does?”
“You can’t.”
“But I want to. I’m going to.” He grimaced when he heard the smugness in his voice, but he did like the thought of knowing Hallie’s secrets. He had no way of knowing for sure, but he imagined that like his mother, most women guarded little secrets from prying men. Determination washed through him. He wanted to be the only man who knew Hallie’s secrets.
“You didn’t answer me, Hallie. Hasn’t anyone courted you?”
“No. I never allowed it.”
He couldn’t deny the pleasure it gave him to hear this. Cade found he wanted more. He wanted her to reveal the mysterious feminine dreams that had him playing the role of lover. While he continued stroking her arms, Cade reminded himself that once more she wasn’t running off. He allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to have Hallie whisper the words she had written in her journal, to know all the things that made Hallie uniquely her.
The question of why Hallie was so special floated through his mind. Somehow from the moment he had left his room to tasting her skin for the first time, Cade realized that his priorities had shifted. He still intended to make Hallie a happy woman, but that happiness included more than the physical mating of male and female.
“Won’t you look at me, Hallie?” Cade suited action to words and gently turned her to face him.
“I don’t think we should be doing this, Mr. McAllister.”
“I disagree, Miss Pruitt.”
Courting. Had he really said courting? Hallie still sifted that word through her mind. Her concentration on what Cade was doing was minuscule at best. She couldn’t stop herself from reveling in the heat of his hard, lean body. His breath smelled of chocolate, his skin like the sage-laden breeze. Was it so terrible to steal a few minutes to fill the need his closeness brought? Earlier she had felt threatened by his kissing. Not now. Now, she thought of how long she had been alone.
And hungry for someone’s touch.
“I brought you a confection,” he murmured, taking the sweet wrapped in its paper cup from his shirt pocket. “Will you share it with me?”
Hallie looked from the sweet held before her lips up to his face. “Where … er …” He touched the tip of the candy to her lips. Hallie turned her face. “Where did you get that?”
“Get it? From the tin on the sideboard.” Cade lifted his head, perplexed. Hallie never denied him taking any of her sweets. In fact, now that he thought about it, she always encouraged him to eat as many as he wanted after supper. Maybe Hallie had forgotten her own dream of sharing sweets with a lover? Cade smiled. He’d just have to remind her of that very pleasant interlude.
“Come on, Hallie. Share this with me.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
“You’re right.” How many had he had? Hallie peered up at his face. He wasn’t slurring his words. If anything, his voice was as coaxing as a feather
tick on a winter’s night.
“Can’t understand it,” he whispered, leaning closer. “You’ve seen all there is to see of me, Hallie. How can you refuse to share a bit of sweet with me?”
Heat spiraled through her in a double attack. It rose from her curled toes to stop where it met the heat that flushed her cheeks, swelled her breasts and settled down low in her belly.
“Ah, Hallie, you’ve always told me it puts you in a mellow mood.”
Hallie worried her lower lip with the edge of her teeth. “Do you have a temper? Of course you do,” she answered herself thinking back to the earlier set to in the barn.
“Of course I do? Where the devil—”
“You’re a man. You have a temper.”
“Glad you’ve noticed what sex I am, Hallie, but what in tarnation has my being a man got to do with temper? And, while you’re answering that, think of one for what temper has to do with sharing a stupid bit of sticky, melting chocolate.”
Her attempt to slide beneath his arm was blocked. There was nothing for her to do but own up to what she’d been doing to him.
“Share the damn thing with me. I’m trying to please you.”
The command, issued in a voice of stifled irritation, only bore witness to her being right. When she pointed this out to Cade, his answer was to bite off half the sweet and hold the balance to her lips.
“We’re standing in the moonlight, Hallie. The breeze while cool is not cold. You are sharing a piece of chocolate with a man who wants to kiss the sweet sticky stuff off your mouth.”
“This is court—” The rest of the word was lost in the bit of confection he gently, but insistently, inserted into her mouth.
“Chew. Swallow. Then kiss me.” What was wrong with her? Didn’t she remember her own dreams? Was he going to have to remind her of every step? This was not what he had been imagining. He thought she’d fall right in, with every seductive curve of her body cooperating.
“Cade?”
“Are you done? Can I kiss you now?” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Hallie, this isn’t the way I meant it to be. I wanted to—ah, hell, words aren’t very good. I’ll show you.”
Bemused by his shifting moods, she stood still within his embrace. She wasn’t quite sure why she was going to allow this; it felt strange, and awkward, and terribly comforting. The warmth of his arms around her dispelled fear.
His heart beat with the steadiness of the enameled iron Waterbury clock on the parlor mantle. His shirt was soft against her hands. The heat of his body chased the night’s chill.
“Hallie, you feel perfect in my arms. Doesn’t this feel right, feel good to you, too?” Cade cupped her head within his large hands. His fingers stole beneath her hair and his thumb soothingly rubbed the tense cord of the nape of her neck.
“We’re both alone, Hallie. We both have been alone for a long time. But if you truly don’t want me to kiss you, now’s the time to say so.” He touched her temple with his lips. “’Cause I don’t think I’m going to want to stop with one kiss, Hallie.” The last was mouthed against her hair.
She tilted her head back to look up at him. Cade held his breath, ready to steal a denial with every coaxing word he knew. Her eyes were luminous in the moonlight. He retained enough sense to know she was wary and summoned all his willpower not to kiss her senseless. As it was, he tasted the tremble of her lips with the barest of touches.
Hallie closed her eyes as his head blocked out the moonlight. His lips were warm, his kiss one of softness, of simple sharing. Lips sweet with smooth velvet chocolate.
Slow and shy, Hallie brought her hands down to his waist, needing something to hold on to. Foolish, foolish, Hallie. She ignored the warning. This was a lost moment in time, and Cade, warm and strong, only filled her need to be held.
The breeze died. His lips strayed from her mouth to her cheek, into her hair. She noted the sudden hush of the night, then only had the alluring awareness of Cade.
The tips of her breasts just grazed his chest; her skirt brushed his thighs, teasing her into remembering the sinful thrill of seeing his long, lean, naked body. Her hands had learned the textures of his flesh. She knew she had to temper her wayward thoughts. But truly, Cade was a beautifully formed man.
Then his lips pressed against hers again, this time not quite so gently. This time he was making her aware of the shape of his mouth, of the taste of him, of all the coaxing power of a man who knew how to kiss. He almost made her believe she could give in to the seductive power of him, could unashamedly make every secret dream come true.
She could feel her resolve faltering. Cade kept rubbing his lips over hers. Her heart was pounding. An ache welled up inside her. His lips were hungry. She tasted his loneliness. Knew the bitter bite of her own. When he was gone the nights would be endless. Her hands dipped into his back pockets, holding him tight. Hallie swallowed his soft groaning sound. With a wildness she didn’t know she possessed, she kissed him back.
This was more of what Cade had envisioned. Hallie flaring to life like tinder under the match. Her trembling lips with-held nothing from him. His tongue drove deeper into her sweet, heated mouth. His hands slid in a rush down her spine, her sides, wanting to learn every curve. He felt the smooth glide of cotton beneath his hands when he wanted to touch skin.
Mine. Every male instinct made the claim, demanded that he establish possession. He forgot where they were. The only thing that mattered was Hallie feeling as he did, that this was special and rare. Her kisses were bringing forth hungers he couldn’t begin to name.
Her fingers sank deeper into his pockets. Hard, insistent desire pounded in his mind. Leaning into her, he pinned her to the corral fence with the hard length of his body, his arousal rigid against her belly. His palm strayed to her ribs. He heard her sudden intake of breath, savored it and plunged them both into a kiss of sexual declaration that promised wild, lush fulfillment. His fingers stole higher, gently rounding on the firm, taut thrust of her breast.
Hallie stiffened, then jerked her head to the side. “This … has …” She wet her lips as heart pounding, Cade stilled her move to flee. “… Gone too … far.”
Cade didn’t think it had gone far enough. He released his stolen bounty with reluctance and cupped the softer skin of her cheek, forcing her to look at him. “Hallie” it was all he could manage for the moment.
He stared down at her with heated blue eyes, vaguely noting that neither seemed to breathe normally for a lengthy interval. He hoped Hallie was registering the minute degrees of pleasure inundating the senses just as he was.
He was doomed to disappointment for verbal acknowledgement. Dropping his forehead to hers, he rubbed the tip of his nose against hers, fighting to find a smile. He could almost hear the wheels of recrimination turning in her mind.
Even as Cade sought and discarded demands that she recognize the mutual need between them, he knew they were not going to be met. It was uncanny how attuned he had become to Hallie’s moods and state of mind. Striving for a lighter mood as desire still clamored in his blood, he lifted his head but refused to allow her to turn away.
“Blame the chocolate, Hallie. Eating one piece brings sweet sensations. Think of the rush to buy such bounty by every male—”
“Oh, my Lord, you know!”
Such anguish snapped him into alertness. “Know what? Hallie, that doesn’t make any sense. Confections can’t make anyone feel what we did. I was only teasing—” Hit with a wave of dizzyness, he broke off. The edges of his mind were suddenly fuzzed with a thick cloud. Cade found himself leaning flush against her, crushing her against the fence.
“Your kisses pack one hell of a wallop.” He muzzled her cheek. “I swear, Hallie, my knees are getting weak.” Molasses thick and slightly slurred, his voice reached his ears as if from far away. “What did … Hallie?”
She slid her arms around his waist and with a great deal of effort managed to reverse their posit
ions.
“That’s just as good, Hallie.”
Moonlight revealed the teasing grin of a young boy, while the voice was all male satisfaction as he nestled her hips against his.
“Cade, stop.” Then she repeated it more forcably. “We need to get you into the house.”
“Into bed, Hallie?” he asked, rocking his hips against hers.
Heat streaked through her. She fought a mighty and quick battle to subdue it.
“Hallie?”
“Yes,” she snapped, attempting to wedge her shoulder beneath his arm. “Into bed we go.”
“Ah, Hallie, you’re a woman to make a man’s dreams come true.” He planted a sloppy kiss on her nose, then tried for her mouth. “Mine. All mine, Hallie.”
“I’m not yours. Come on, help me, Cade.” She pulled free. His arm slammed back to grab hold of the pole fence. This was not working. “A nice, soft bed, Cade, isn’t that what you want? Soft and warm,” she coaxed.
“You’re soft.” His hand slid from her shoulder to the upper curve of her breast. “And damn warm.”
Hallie prayed he’d never remember this. She left his hand in place, urging him away from the fence. The sudden stiffening of his body alarmed her. “Don’t pass out, Cade. I’ll never be able to carry you.” But when she looked up at him, his head was flung back, his attitude one of listening.
Moonlight slid lovingly over his handsome features. She could have spent the next hour looking her fill, instead, she tried to free his grasp on the fence.
“Bloody blue blazes!”
“Cade?”
“Get into the house, Hallie. Now.” He shook his head like a maddened steer about to charge. “Move, Hallie.” Cade found it easy to give her the order but he was having trouble making his body obey the same.
Dread—which had nothing to do with Cade’s finding out he ate laudanum-dosed candy—forced Hallie to turn around and see what had alarmed Cade. His repeated order for her to run into the house and lock the doors registered at the same time she spotted the silhouettes of two riders stopped on the rise above the house.
The Secret Ingredient Page 3
